Snow White!
by Crazy4MadHatter
Summary: Snow White wasn't always known as Snow White... Isabella and her sister Elena have to deal with the difficulty of their lost mother... but their evil Step-Mother to-be has got other plans for the sisters.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! This is my first take on a fairy tale, and I hope that I can do Snow White justice! Enjoy! ~Hatter**

Once upon a time, there was a girl with skin as white as snow, lips as red as roses, and hair as black as ebony. Her name was Isabella Adelyn. She was born into a royal family of the Kingdom of Wallis, and to this day, no one knows why her mother disappeared. Or how she was one of two beautiful daughters blessed with such magnificent features. Isabella's sister, Elena Adelyn, was unique. She was blessed with hair as brown as the King's prized stallion, and, unlike her sister, she had light olive-toned skin.

They were both born to King Gabriel, who was a slight old man, with graying hair. And yet, he still walked with his back straight and his head held high whenever he entered a room, or invited guests over to dinner. He was a great man, and his daughters loved him, but sometimes he couldn't really tell if a person's true intentions were good or bad. That was his greatest flaw…

As a young man, he was the commanding officer of his own army. He was a very impressive general, and his troops respected him and admired him. Unlike in the present day, Gabriel was strong and well built from training with his father's servants. When the battle between the Garrison Kingdom and Wallis broke out, young Gabriel was tactful. He used his cut throat strategies, and together, he along his flock of troops, prevailed.

The battle lasted almost two months. The offending army's general, Montague, was about a decade older than Gabriel, and smart about his decisions. In the beginning of the battle, Montague was winning. But Gabriel was clever, and introduced strategies that even Montague couldn't duplicate. To boot, Gabriel's army loved him like a close friend or a father; there were many young men enlisted in the army. Montague was impersonal with his men, and for that, they feared him.

When the battle was over, and Gabriel saw how much blood had been shed, all the grief stricken relatives, and the homeless children, he realized that he would avoid war at all costs. There was no fair way to handle the depression that spread over the newly detained kingdom, so he gave a speech that united the two kingdoms and brought peace to the new citizens of Wallis.

As an attempt to level out the new populace, Gabriel held a ball. But it was also because he needed a wife to be his queen, as it was his turn to take the crown. When the festivities broke out, the Kingdom's ball room was aglow with life and celebration. It was because hands of fate that Gabriel spotted a beautiful woman with a gorgeous white pearly gown. Her name was Meredith. He immediately courted her. Several months later, they were wedded on the sandy beach of the old Garrison Kingdom.

The same night, they consummated their love and she became pregnant with twins. Nine months later, Isabella and Elena were born. As Gabriel rejoiced with the news of two daughters, he traveled far to bring two Arabian stallions as gifts. When he returned, it is said that Meredith thought her daughters were too beautiful and left. To this day, no one knows what happened to the queen…


	2. Chapter 2

Presently, Elena and Isabella were getting fitted for their dresses for their father's wedding. He was getting married to the woman named Agatha. The girls hadn't met her yet, but they had heard she was the prettiest in all the land and that she would make a wonderful mother and queen to the kingdom. She had no children of her own, and she was an orphan. But that was the extent of their knowledge of their future mother-to-be.

The sisters were officially meeting her on the wedding night, as was the tradition, and were very enthusiastic, but also a little cautious. Isabella was trying on her blue silk gown when Elena murmured, "Do you even think she'll like us?"

"Oh, Red, of course. Father may not be a good judge of character, but he isn't brainless." Replied Isabella.

"That's true, but it's also debatable. What if this Agatha woman is only in it for the power? Then what will come of us?"

"Oh come off it! If Father's muse is really so dreadful, we'll tell him. He'll listen to us because we're his angels." Isabella sighed. The gown was just right and she pinched the fabric between her fingers, feeling the calls of the ocean blue of the gown.

"We don't know that for certain." Elena was always the more cautious one, as Isabella was the care-free wild spirit that everyone admired. Some would say the twins were ying and yang of one another.

"Can we please speak of something more pleasant? Like, how handsome the boys of our kingdom are?" Isabella tried to change the subject, and thankfully, it worked. They talked of more pleasant things and as soon as they both discovered that the gowns fit well, they bought them and left.

As they got into their carriage, Elena saw a woman with a head of beautiful crimson hair, and she was talking to the shop keeper of the gown shop. Elena blinked, and the woman was gone. Stunned, she sighed and shook her head. Isabella raised her eyebrow in question, but Elena just rolled her eyes and said, "I thought I saw someone, but I guess I was mistaken."

Now it was Isabella's turn to sigh. She looked out her window into the streets, and could see a small boy begging for some coins. He wore baggy, stained clothes, and his shoes were worn through. He was using his hat as a bowl for his earnings, and from the looks of it, the boy had maybe a day's worth of money to buy food. She felt gratitude towards the considerate public of her kingdom.

She'd often thought about how many of her people were unfortunate. She was always a dangerous risk taker, and if she made a poor choice, her father would just make it go away. She knew this was irresponsible, as her father had reminded her time and time again, and so Isabella grew strong with the reaction of always feeling bad about other people's misfortunes. Every time—even if it was just a glimpse of an old lady on the street—she wouldn't be able to get the sick feeling out of her stomach for days. She would think about how she could help that person, and she'd go back the next day and bring them an apple or something to eat, but they usually had moved or some had even passed. That's what hit Isabella worst of all. Each passing, each hunger, each empty pocket, saddened the princess' heart. She'd spend hours thinking of possible solutions, but most of the time she came up empty. Each plan was too flawed or too uncertain, and that unsettled her.

Isabella's thoughts were interrupted when the carriage hit a bump, it seemed, and came to a sudden and violent halt. The door swung open, and Jonathon, the cute but awkwardly clumsy page boy, stepped into the carriage and closed the door and hooked the latch. He sat next to Elena and gave her his famous crooked grin. When he turned to shine it on Isabella, she just mumbled a mute hello, and went back to her thoughts.

"Well 'ello there, Red." Jonathon took off his hat in an exaggerated manor and put it on his chest as a sign of respect. Elena giggled and lowered her neck as if to curtsy.

"Greetings sir Jonathon," Elena said in her most formal mock accent. She used her hands to fan herself and sighed.

"Something wrong, princess?" Elena tried to avoid his gaze. With those deep midnight blue eyes, he could get anything out of her. But he had this trick where he would know just where she was going to look and each time he would catch her off guard and she would answer any question Jonathon had. It was a curse. On top of that, Jonathon was funny, and on many occasions, you could find the two joking about modern affairs.

"No, of course not." Elena made the mistake of sounding too hasty, and Jonathon caught it. And he was as good a guesser as he was clever.

"Ahhh, 't's about the new queen ain't it? 'Fraid she won't live up to your standards?" Elena was flushed at his surprising accuracy. No matter what, Jonathon could guess what she was feeling and it never took long for him to figure out why. Elena glanced at Isabella who was still looking out the window, totally oblivious to her obvious infatuation with their mail boy.

Elena never liked to think about how much Jonathon attracted her, seeing as how their relationship was practically forbidden. He was sweet, and she could tell that he was interested in courting her, but unless he was royal, he was off limits. Her father was a decent man, but he'd much rather marry her off than see her with the page boy. And at this realization, Elena was quite saddened. She looked at him now.

Jonathon wasn't brawny, but he was strong enough to carry firewood to and fro whatever location at a consistent pace. He was tanned from his hours at the field house, and he had brown hair that flopped around everywhere. To every other girl in or out of the kingdom, he was fun to flirt with. But to Elena, he was magnificent and much more than that. He may not have been the most sensible choice because of their two different worlds, but he actually listened to what she had to say. They shared many intelligent conversations of books, and when it was night, he would walk her back safely and never try to take advantage of her, and for that, she admired him. He always wore the suit of the page, which consisted of a sort of blue velvet apron with the family crest embroidered in silver on the front, blue trousers that were just the right size and his favorite blue-dyed moccasins. And underneath his clothes, well, Elena blushed just thinking about it.

Elena and Jonathon continued their conversation, while Isabella wondered, and in sooner than no time, they were at the Kingdom….


	3. Chapter 3

As a child, Agatha Mayfield was never accepted into anything. When she was a youngling, she wasn't as attractive as such fellows of the kingdom liked. She was awkward and she mumbled more than talked, and the other children found that quite unnerving. Whenever there was a school game with her classmates, she was never invited to join—and when she went and watched, she was considered a stalker and made fun of. Her only friends at the time were her stuffed doll Dina and her mother Pella.

When she came home from school in a fit about what the children had teased her about that day, her mother would rub her back soothingly and speak gently about things that made her laugh and feel better. When she was on her afternoon nap, her mother would bring her Dina and Agatha would feel slightly at peace in dreams that consisted of her being beautiful, and that one day, all the children of Wallis would beg for forgiveness. The children would pay for their mistakes.

One night, ten summers ago, she woke up to the sound of clanking metal and loud voices. She ran to the kitchen to make sure her mother was unharmed, when she saw that her father—father who was never home—was hitting her mother with a frying pan. Hard. Her father was never around, and when he was, he was usually drunk and wanted something. Agatha's mother usually handled him well; putting him to bed on the living room floor so that no violence would ensue. But this time, he hadn't allowed himself to be handled and now there was a pool of blood around her mother's body. Agatha could hear the crunching of her mother's bones, and winced.

Agatha screamed for him to stop. To let her mother live. But the malicious man just kept at it, not seeming to hear his daughter's voice. She began sobbing, and that's when her father decided to finally look up. The smell of beer floated towards her as he spoke. He grunted and turned to face her. He gave her his toothiest smile.

"Well, hellllllloooo. My d-dear." His drunken slurs were like the devil's language. Agatha screamed in rage and while he turned around and continued, she reached for a butcher knife and walked very slowly, yet deliberately, and stabbed the foul man in the back. He cried out in pain the first time, but as she plunged the knife again, he dropped to the stone-hard floor. When her father had stopped breathing altogether, she kept plunging and dismembering until he was no more. She would never forget the image of her horrible father's eyes, wide with horror, as his child murdered him.

"This is for my mother!" She threw the knife and rushed to see if her mother was still alive. She put her ear to her mother's heart, and it was as still as stone. With a rush of fury she screamed and sobbed. Agatha lost her best friend that night. Now who was going to tuck her in? Who was going to care for her, love her, when no one else would? Who would keep her safe from her tormentors?

She now had to think logically, because she was now homeless. She wasn't nearly old enough to work to keep the house. But she had to try, she decided. She dumped her father's body—rather parts- in the middle of town's square, not really caring enough to do anything else. Agatha took her mother's body with more care, and buried it right under their favorite tree where they would read and have picnics under. She had brought a Bible and read her mother's favorite verse to her, and when she was finished, she told her mother about how sorry she was. Agatha didn't mean to kill her father, but he deserved it, didn't he?...


	4. Chapter 4

Elena was now putting on her duplicate of Isabella's dress. She was getting ready for the wedding, and she was a mix of nerves and excitement. The dress she had donned was a darker blue, but it was still a flowing gown with embroidered spirals and patterns of magnificent leaves. It was skin tight at the bodice and the skirt was flawless; it became bigger towards the bottom, and it was very heavy, but it was worth the trouble. Elena's waist length waves had been piled on top of her head. She was wearing the family's royal blue rubies that had once belonged to her mother.

Elena didn't think too much about her mother these days. Whenever she did, she was regretful and angry. How could their mother abandon them? She needed her mother to help her with impossible problems and to be there when she was sad, or to take her to the market to buy clothes. Her father was always there for those things, but he was a man, a warrior, and he never really understood. She suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!" She called. It was Jonathon. When his floppy curled hair came into view, she smiled. She looked into his eyes and Jonathon stopped. His eyes widened and he couldn't speak. She wondered if he was hurt or something, when he finally said, "You look beautiful Elena." He hadn't used her nickname when he said this. Elena blushed a beet red. When she finally looked at his uniform, which was still the same, she calmed down and regained her snarky composure.

"You look pretty dapper yourself, captain." But it came out sounding all wrong. Jonathon walked up to her, really close, and grinned. Elena wondered how he could so easily take her breath away. Jonathon boldly put his hand on her cheek and whispered, "Thank you princess." When he began leaning in, all she could think about was how much she wanted him to kiss her.

When his lips met hers, she was in ecstasy. She could feel the zings of electricity that Jonathon was protruding and it was marvelous. The kiss began slowly, but then it became desperate. Jonathon put a hand on her neck, and the other on her waist. Elena had her arms wrapped around Jonathon's neck. They heard a loud knock at the door and sprang apart.

"Elena, have you seen where my-" Isabella stopped and looked at her sister and Jonathon. She noticed they both looked flushed and wondered why. She began her sentence again, but this time she added a greeting. "Why hello, Jonathon. Elena, have you seen where my shoes have been hiding? I absolutely cannot find them anywhere."

"Um, you may check my closet, they may be in there." Elena said frostily. How could her sister be so clueless? She peeked at Jonathon who was grinning like an idiot. She couldn't help but grin back.

"Oh here they are! Thank you, sister. Are you ready to meet Father's muse?" Isabella patted her dress and strapped on her heels. She peeked in the mirror and gave herself a wink. As Isabella reached the door, she surprised Elena and Jonathon by saying, "And Jonathon, that's not your shade of lipstick." She winked and gave them both a devilish grin before strolling out the door.

"How did she-" Jonathon began. He went from his tremendous enthusiasm to pitiful chagrin in less than three seconds.

"I don't know." Elena sighed. She picked up her skirts and rushed out the door. Jonathon followed. They reached the top of the stairs and Elena met with her sister and tried to catch her eye. Isabella was looking straight ahead though, so it was difficult to make eye contact.

They were at the top of the grand white marble staircase that led into the foyer. The stairs were lined with red velvet and it was a two story descent to the grand ballroom. Isabelle and Elena had been walking up and down those stairs their whole lives, but if you were new to something like this, one misstep and you would find yourself tumbling down these stairs. It had happened before, actually. The Princess of Ramond had come for the annual pageant, where the princesses would compete for the most gracious personality, who had the most intelligence, and most of all, the most beauty. Her name was Maria, and though she was not very nice to Isabella (Elena never competed), it was just because Isabella always found herself winning the pageants. But, as Maria was making her grand descent as runner-up, she slipped on about the second flight of stairs and broke her arm. It caused a lot of commotion and the doctors were called. Maria went home with a splint on her arm, and all her sarcastic and crude remarks seemed to have left her.

Elena took a deep breath and watched as her sister descended the stairs with the grace of a queen. Isabelle smiled her heart warming smile, and the guests of the ballroom were aglow with delight when they saw her. They all converged around her sister like a huge cocoon, and Elena decided to make her descent now, when nobody seemed to notice her.

As for Elena… that was another matter entirely. She was never born to be a queen. Elena's tendencies to go off on her own adventures often were her sense of freedom and gave her content. While Isabella would be in the castle learning to curtsy and drink tea, Elena was outside singing with the birds and bringing them bread crumbs, although, occasionally Isabella would join her, but it was mostly Elena's passion. She took one final, deep breath and descended the stairs.

She looked down at her sister, who she thought would be too busy talking to notice her, was grinning at her. This sisterly exchange gave her a boost of confidence, and she smiled. But even with her confidence lifted, she noticed that because her sister had turned her attention to her, all the guests had too. She took a deep breath and Elena's steps became more graceful as she progressed down the staircase, and she relaxed. Being a princess was in her blood. She could do this…


	5. Chapter 5

From the bottom of the staircase, across the foyer, standing next to King Gabriel and watching his daughters descend with such grace and beauty, was Agatha. She was in a state of envy as she studied their perfect, petite figures. She saw Isabelle's ebony hair, and Elena's beautiful green eyes that lugged Agatha in like quick sand. She couldn't help but wonder how the two sisters were blessed with such magnificent features. It was unnatural that they both be so breath-taking. From her point of view, while Isabella descended the staircase, the men in the room seemed to quiet down, and look at the princess with a longing. This reaction to Isabella brought back the memories of when Agatha was a child and how no one had ever gazed upon her like that.

Agatha thought about her Magic Mirror, and how, just as soon as this ball was over, she was going to consult it. Because even though Agatha had long since abandoned her dreams of making the people grovel because of their rudeness towards her, she was still insecure about who was the fairest of them all. For now, she smiled at Gabriel's guests, despite her poisonous resentment that was slowly consuming her soul.

"I agree that the council needs to meet and decide how to proceed. Gabriel, how on Earth are you going to swing the vote? Wallis is itching for war and I just don't know how you can stop it."

"Well Grant, I understand your concern, but until our meeting on the 'morrow, I cannot reveal my secrets to you." Gabriel winked at Grant, and wrapped his hand around Agatha's waist. Agatha really was in love with Gabriel. From the very first day they met, Agatha loved the man's sincerity, his loyalty to the Kingdom, and his affectionate passions. As their romance blossomed and grew, Agatha could picture a happy ending with this man. Now, she gazed into his warm green eyes, and smiled. He returned the smile, and it left her breathless.

"This must be the lovely bride." Isabella murmured, pulling King Gabriel back to the Foyer.

"Father, why haven't you introduced us yet? We've been here long enough." Elena laughed and kissed her father on the cheek.

"Children, this is my muse, Agatha. Agatha, these are my daughters, Elena and Isabella." The King introduced his family to his future wife. And as the night grew later, the rehearsal ceremony grew closer. After all, Agatha wanted everything to be perfect. And it was...


End file.
